Ian Kinsler has been blasting the baseball all over the field for the Rangers so far this season. In 20 games this season, Kinsler is 23 for 69 (.333 avg, 1.144 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 8 homers, 20 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Kinsler is a rising star for the Rangers and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him in the All Star game this season as long as he can stay healthy.

The Rangers have placed Eric Gagne on the 15-day disabled list with a right hip strain. Gagne has pitched in 4 games this season and he’s 0-0 with 1 save. Gagne has a 0.00 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP as he’s only allowed 2 hits in 3.1 innings this season. The Rangers have recalled Frank Francisco from the minors and if he’s healthy he will make the bullpen much stronger when Gagne returns. Akinori Otsuka will take back over as the closer for the Rangers. He is 0-0 with 2 saves, a 0.00 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 6.2 innings he has whiffed 6 batters. The Rangers are in good hands until Gagne is ready to return.

Shortstop Michael Young and catcher Gerald Laird are both off to terrible starts to the 2007 season. Michael Young has played in 19 games this season and he’s only 13 for 79 (.165, .456 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs. Both of Young’s homers came in the same game and he’s not really hitting the ball hard. He says that he will get things straightened out as he proclaims to be doing the same things he did last year. The Rangers need him to get going soon because he’s hurting the lineup so far this season. Gerald Laird was given the starting job when the Rangers let Rod Barajas walk as a free-agent in the off-season and he’s Laird is proving that to be a big mistake so far this season. In 16 games this year, Laird is 5 for 51 (.098 avg, .327 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. The Rangers might have to make a trade if Laird doesn’t swing the bat better soon because the Rangers are weak at the catcher spot in their organization.

The Texas Rangers went 3-3 last week despite being outscored 32-27. The Rangers really need to get their bats going or this is going to be a long, long season. The Rangers are in third place in the American League West with a 8-10 record, 1 game behind the A’s and Angels.

The Rangers showed a lot of faith in Gerald Laird when they let Rod Barajas walk away as a free agent and he’s letting them down so far this season. He’s played in 12 games so far this season and he’s only hitting .132 with a .393 OPS! He’s only 5 for 38 on the season with only 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. The Rangers need Laird to pick it up with the bat because they don’t really have a fallback plan in the organization right now.

The Rangers went 3-3 last week and they were outscored 43-39. The Rangers need to get better pitching than that if they want to contend because they wasting a lot of good offense last week. They are in last place in the American League West with a 5-7 record, 2 games behind the Seattle Mariners.

The Texas Rangers have placed starting pitcher Jamey Wright on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Kameron Loe or Bruce Chen will likely take over the #5 spot in the rotation when it comes up again, but that won’t happen until April 21.

Joaquin Benoit has been really throwing well so far this season. He has always had outstanding stuff, so could this be the year Benoit puts it all together on the mound? Only time will tell. As for right now though, he has been unhittable. He’s thrown 3.2 innings so far and he’s whiffed 5 batters while not allowing a run yet. If he keeps throwing like this, the Rangers will let him pitch later in games.

Jamey Wright and Kameron Loe have both been getting lit up so far this season. Wright only lasted 2.2 innings in his first start of the season and he allowed 5 hits, walked 3 batters and allowed 5 earned runs. That means Wright has a 16.87 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP so far this season. Wright will be on a short leash for the Rangers who have a lot of young arms ready to take his spot in the rotation if he doesn’t start to pitch well soon. Kameron Loe would probably replace Wright soon if he starts pitching better himself. He’s thrown 2.1 innings this season and he’s allowed 5 hits and 3 earned runs. That means he has a 11.57 ERA and a 2.57 WHIP. His stuff is too good for him to continue pitching like he is right now.

Sammy Sosa played so well all Spring but all of the minor league pitchers are no longer around and Sosa is starting to look his age with a bat in his hands. He is 4 for 24 (.167 avg, .492 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He needs to get better quickly or Nelson Cruz is going to plant Sammy Sosa’s butt on the bench.